Let us now continue with our consideration of the centers. We have dealt with the four above the diaphragm - the three centers through which the Spiritual Triad must eventually work, and the synthetic center, the ajna center, which finally expresses the integrated personality and becomes the direct agent of the soul. We now have three more centers to consider, all of them to be found below the diaphragm - the solar plexus center, the sacral center, [169] and the center at the base of the spine. The most important for all aspirants at this time is the solar plexus center; the most active - generally speaking - in humanity as a whole, is still the sacral center; the most quiescent center in the body (from the angle of the spiritual man) is the basic center.

5. The Solar Plexus Center. This is located well below the shoulder blades in the spine and is exceedingly active. In Atlantean days, it was brought to a high stage of development, just as in Aryan days, the throat center is being rapidly awakened. This center is peculiarly related to two other centers: The heart and the ajna center, and they form at this time an interesting triangle of energies in the human body and one which is receiving much attention from the Hierarchy. There is a downflow of energy from the ajna center to the heart from the soul, just in so far as the aspirant is in touch with his soul. This leads to three things:

• A stimulation of the heart center.
• A responsive reaction from the heart which evokes a stimulation of the ajna center and produces eventually the recognition of group consciousness by the personality.
• The evocation of the heart center in the head.

All this, however, is facilitated by the advanced development of the solar plexus in the aspirant, which has its own effect upon the heart and a reciprocal effect upon the ajna center. There are, consequently, two important triangles to consider: [170]

Just as there is, astrologically, a Science of Triangles, so there will later be developed a science of triangles in relation to the human system. But the time is not yet. I but give occasional indications of such a science upon which the intuition of disciples may play.

1. The solar plexus is a reflection in the personality of the "heart of the sun," just as the heart center is. It is the central factor in the life of the personality for all humanity below the grade of probationary disciple. At that point the mind definitely begins to function, however faintly. It is the outlet - if such a word can be used - of the astral body into the outer world, and the instrument through which emotional energy flows. It is the organ of desire. It is of supreme importance in the life of the average man, and its control is a vital goal for the aspirant. He must transmute desire into aspiration.
2. The solar plexus came into full functioning in Atlantean times, during the period wherein the second great human race was developing. These lower centers are not so specifically related to initiations as are the centers above the diaphragm, for they are personality centers and have [171] to be under the full control of the soul when initiations of a certain degree are taken.
3. The solar plexus center is the great clearing-house for all energies below the diaphragm. This refers to the three major centers and the minor centers which were enumerated on page 72. The relation of this center to the astral plane is (to use a peculiar but most expressive word) acute. It is the recipient of all emotional reactions and of desire impulses and energies and, because humanity is today becoming active in a group sense and is more inclusive than ever before in human history, the situation is one of acute and extreme difficulty. Mankind, through the individual and also through the collective solar plexus, is being subjected to almost unendurable pressure. Such are the tests of initiation! It is not my intention to deal here with the processes of attracting the lower energies, the mode of centralizing them in the solar plexus, and there transmuting them and refining them to the point where transference into the heart center becomes possible. Much of this is connected with the training given to accepted disciples, prior to the second initiation. It would be too intricate a matter to discuss, as well as carrying with it certain peculiar dangers for those not ready for the process; it is, however, one that - under living effort - goes forward almost automatically. The solar plexus is thus the most separate of all the centers (except the ajna center, in the case of the man on the left-hand path) because it stands at the midway point, between the throat and the heart centers - above the diaphragm - and the sacral and basic centers - below the diaphragm. This is a consideration of major importance.
4. The solar plexus is the center in the etheric vehicle through which humanity (average, unenlightened humanity) [172] lives and moves and has its being. Humanity is conditioned by desire - good desire, selfish desire, wrong desire, and spiritual desire. It is the center through which most of the energies flow which make a man progressive because he is ambitious, selfish because his personal desires are of importance, and fluidic because astrally polarized. Through it the "bright light generated in Atlantis" is poured, and the astral light is contacted. It is therefore the center through which most mediums work and clairvoyants function. Later, these people will learn to work as intermediaries, consciously and intelligently using their powers; they will possess clear perception, and this will supersede clairvoyance. They will then be polarized in the ajna center. It is consequently a most disturbing center in the body, and is a basic cause of the majority of stomach complaints and troubles connected with the liver. The entire area immediately below the diaphragm is in a constant state of turmoil, where average man is concerned; this is due to individual and collective causes.